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Ban on after-hours lobbyist schmoozing gets a cold shoulder from Toronto city hall

The mayor’s powerful executive committee has rejected a recommendation from the city’s lobbyist watchdog that would have banned after-hours communication between lobbyists and public office holders.

“Today, what we saw from the executive branch of this council was an utter lack of appetite (to do anything about the lobbying problem). They know darn well why it’s coming forward right now, and there’s no appetite to look at it,” said left-wing councillor Shelley Carroll.

The committee’s vote comes on the heels of an ongoing Star investigation into Toronto’s lobbying boom. The series paints a troubling picture of the current climate at city hall, which some councillors say feels reminiscent of the days of the MFP computer leasing scandal.

Since 2010, lobbying activity has exploded. Daily communications logged between lobbyists and public officers holders appear to have increased tenfold since Mayor Rob Ford took office. Three times as many lobbyists registered with the city in 2012 as in 2010. The number of topics they’re pushing has doubled. The number of misconduct allegations has tripled.

And coinciding with this surge is concern from lobbyist registrar Linda Gehrke that there is dwindling “awareness of the requirements of the code of conduct” — which among other things, bans improper influence between lobbyists and councillors.

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Gehrke told the Star she had no comment to make on the committee’s decision.

Gehrke has launched an investigation into that’s night’s events — although she is not allowed to confirm or comment on this — and last week proposed limiting contacts with professional lobbyists to daytime hours except when a council meeting is still running.

“Restricting the time and place that lobbying may occur will ensure that lobbying of the city’s public office holders is conducted in a business environment, during business hours,” Gehrke wrote in a report to Mayor Rob Ford’s executive committee. “This will enhance the integrity and perceived integrity of lobbying and city government decision-making.”

Gehrke also noted that it was Justice Denise Bellamy who first proposed restricting the hours and locations of lobbying activities. Bellamy made the recommendation in her 2005 report on the MFP scandal, in which a $43 million contract nearly doubled without the approval of council. Improper relationships between lobbyists and councillors were partly to blame.

On Wednesday, committee members said they agreed with the premise that councillors shouldn’t socialize with lobbyists, and that lobbying should take place in a business setting. But formally limiting contact after 6 p.m. weekdays and on weekends could drive lobbying underground, argued Councillor David Shiner.

Shiner said lobbying should be restricted to business environments but didn’t offer an opinion on how to ensure that happens.

Lobbyist John Nunziata — brother to speaker Frances Nunziata — suggested in a verbal submission that if council wants to restrict the hours, it should go all the way and prohibit face-to-face meetings altogether.

Nunziata said people seeking to influence council decisions could do so through written submissions and by appearing before council committees.

“The wheels of democracy would not grind to a halt,” he said. “If people want to influence decision-making, they can do so in writing. And they would have the opportunity to appear before the committee.”

Instead, the committee accepted a motion put forward by Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong to do nothing with Gehrke’s report.

Carroll, a progressive and opponent of the mayor, also had issues with the registrar’s recommendation, because she felt it inadvertently would prevent councillors from attending nighttime events, which are typically rife with lobbyists.

But, she added, “(The registrar) does raise a point, in that (a charity event) should not lead to a champagne room afterwards. And we should find a good way of getting at that.”

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